Woman sues Skokie and officer, citing injury after DUI arrest

Says reconstructive surgery was needed

This photo supplied by attorney Torreya L. Hamilton shows Cassandra Feuerstein, 47, of Chicago, with injuries she says were caused by Skokie police.

A Chicago woman has sued the village of Skokie and one of its police officers, alleging she was seriously injured after being shoved headfirst into a jail cell bench after a drunken driving arrest last winter.

Cassandra Feuerstein, 47, said in a federal lawsuit that the incident required facial reconstructive surgery and the insertion of a titanium plate to "replace the bones that had been shattered."

Part of the alleged incident was recorded on jail video cameras, which Feuerstein's attorney, Torreya Hamilton, released Wednesday.

"The video speaks for itself," Hamilton said. "She does nothing to justify what this male police officer does."

Feuerstein was arrested for drunken driving March 10, according to Hamilton and court documents. The video shows officers searching Feuerstein inside the jail cell, where she appears to be asked to remove her boots and bra before being removedfrom the cellfor additional processing.

An officer then takes Feuerstein by the arm and appears to push her back into the cell. Video shows Feuerstein falling forward and striking her head and face on a bench, before officers and paramedics tend to her as a pool of blood spreads on the floor.

"If this was a tavern fight, which of course it wasn't, it'd be like she got sucker-punched," Hamilton said.

In addition to a drunken driving charge, Feuerstein was charged with resisting a police officer. A Cook County court document filed by police said Feuerstein "knowingly resisted … in that she pulled away from (the officer) and placed both her hands on the sides of the cell door all in an attempt to not be placed into the holding cell."

The lawsuit also alleges the officer made false statements to others in the Skokie Police Department about why he pushed Feuerstein into the jail cell, causing his fellow officers to write false reports on the incident.

Feuerstein pleaded guilty to the DUI charge, but county officials dropped the resisting arrest charges. The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount of damages.

"The village of Skokie has not yet been served with any documents," said Ann Tennes, the suburb's marketing and communications director, on Wednesday. "When, and if, we are served, our counsel will review them."

A Police Department employee said Anthony Scarpelli, Skokie's police chief, was unavailable for comment. Village officials confirmed that the accused officer, who could not be reached, was still a village employee.